Michael Oleksyn
Daily Herald
Winnipeg one-man punk show Greg Rekus makes his return to the Spice Trail on Saturday, Jan. 18 with Saskatoon hip hop artist Mim.Osa.
Rekus said he is friendly with Threadbare Productions’ Clay Cottingham and was booked to play New Year’s Eve with UK recording artist Tim Holehouse in 2023.
“It was a very, very small show, but Clay was really nice. We made friends and his pets are also incredibly awesome. He had this cool little house to crash at after,” Rekus said.
He said that he became fast friends with Cottingham and returned to play a fall backyard show for Cottingham in 2024.
“I’m really, really excited. This is the first time I’m getting to come to Prince Albert, actually on a Saturday, so I hope it’s really good,” he said.
Rekus described his music as folk/punk.
“I would say I’m a one-person punk show,” he explained. “I have this giant platform. I taped tambourines (on) too, and I stomp on it really hard. I play guitar, I sing and yell, and I have a kazoo for the solo parts. It’s kind of like a big rowdy sing along thing, although I have some kind of slower, heartfelt stuff. I always kind of say if I’m trying to describe myself, it’s love, politics, and everything in between.”
Rekus started playing in bands in high school but has been a touring musician for the past 20 years. He’s played solo for the last 15 years, and has toured across Canada, the U.S., and Europe.
He’s currently on the road in British Columbia.
“There are bummers about being away from home so much, but also at the same time, I’ve been doing it so much and I have made so many friends all over the place it’s not necessarily like some people might imagine it,” he said.
“(It) isn’t the most luxurious way to talk on the phone, but you’re always kind of working. You’re always doing something, so it’s not like your time isn’t getting occupied.”
Rekus said that he mostly does his own booking for shows and has made many friends on the road while he toured.
“I’m not independently wealthy. Of course, I got to play shows for money on tour, but the other fun part of it is all these great friendships you get to make and the chance to visit people. I have friends (where) I’ve watched their kids grow up over the years because I’m in town once a year,” Rekus said.
Rekus said that every way of playing music from jamming in your basement to having a local club to play in has advantages.
“Every night I get to go to a new place and play in front of a new bunch of people. Also, I don’t have to come up with a lot of jokes if I have three or four jokes, I just reuse them every night and every night they’re funny still,” Rekus said.
Rekus was born and raised in Winnipeg and still lives there. He also works as an audio engineer when he is not on the road.
“About half the year I’m doing this. The other half I’m at home working. Occasionally I’m on the road doing sound. Mostly I take local gigs because I’m already gone for so long,” he said.
He is proud of his most recent recording ‘Sinners go to Church, Saints go to Jail’ which was released in Feb., 2024 and is available on Spotify and Apple Music and all streaming platforms. He said it will be available at the Spice Trail show on vinyl and CD. The recording is different than his live set.
“It’s got me and I have a small band in Winnipeg called the Inside Job, so there’s a drummer, a bass player, a sax player, and all of them sing back up,” Rekus said.
“I have a band on record but I tour solo. It’s extremely difficult to try to afford to bring everybody on the road, especially when I was in my 20s, everyone was keen to jump in the van for like, no money. Now that we’re all in our 40s, we all have bills, so it gets a lot more complicated,” he added.
He explained that his live show is also different from the recorded version.
“It’s interactive and you just can’t capture that on record. Even a live record, you still don’t quite get the same feel. But I thought to make up that to be a lot funnier to kind of make new songs as much as they could be on the recording where I have drums, bass, everything you could possibly have. I’m extremely proud of the new record. So many people have said that they think it’s my best thing that I have done.”
Rekus and Mim.Osa are at the Spice Trail on Jan. 18, doors are at 8 p.m. and bands begin at 9 p.m. Advance tickets are $10 and available at the Spice Trail, tickets at the door are $15.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
